Vehicle accidents, homicide are Mexico's top causes of death

More people between the ages of 15 and 34 died from vehicle accidents in Mexico than any other cause

From 2000 to 2009, more people between the ages of 15 and 34 years old died from vehicle accidents in Mexico than from any other cause, according to mortality statistics compiled by the Pan American Health Organization.

Homicide ranked as the second leading cause of death for this age group in Mexico during the same 10-year period, the health organization reported.

The other three top causes of death in that country, in descending order, were suicide, HIV-related infections, liver diseases and cancerous tumors.

When broken down by gender, the top five leading causes of death for males in that group in Mexico, again in descending order, were vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, HIV-related infections and liver diseases.

REPORTER

Diana Washington Valdez

For females, the top five leading causes of death, in descending order, were vehicle accidents, pregnancy complications, homicide, cancerous tumors and urinary tract diseases.

PAHO is an arm of the World Health Organization, and has operated a U.S.-Mexico border field office in El Paso since 1942.

By 2009, PAHO reported that Mexico's leading cause of death for 15-to 34-year-old men and women was homicide, followed by vehicle accidents, and with suicide in the third spot. A breakdown by gender was not available yet for that year.

Drug violence

Mexican officials blamed the drug cartel wars (2008-2012) for the extraordinarily high levels of homicides in that country.

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The murder rates were higher in some regions and cities than in others, such as Juarez, which experienced unprecedented levels of violence.

PAHO and other health representatives conducted a workshop in 2010 to address the mental health community's responses to the violence that erupted across the border from El Paso.

"A situation analysis illustrated the constant increase of homicides since 2008, which at this time has reached a rate of 139 per 100,000 population in Juárez, one of the highest homicide rates in the world," PAHO officials said then.

Although PAHO did not have complete mortality statistics for the United States and Mexico for the same 10-year period, it did have comparable mortality figures for both countries for 2007.

United States (2007)

In the United States, the top five causes of death in the 15-34 age group in 2007 were vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, accidental poisoning and undetermined intentional acts.

When broken down by gender, the highest causes of death for males (in descending order) were vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, accidental poisoning and undetermined intentional acts.

For females in the United States, the five leading causes of death were vehicle accidents, accidental poisonings, suicide, homicide and cancerous tumors.

Mexico (2007)

For the same age group in 2007, Mexico reported as its top five causes of death for men and women combined (in order from highest to lowest) vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, HIV-related infections and liver diseases.

According to PAHO, for males 15 to 34 years old, the top five leading causes of death were vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, HIV-related infections, and liver diseases.

For females 15 to 34 years old, the top five causes of deaths were vehicle accidents, pregnancy complications, cancerous tumors, urinary tract diseases and homicide.